The Ruling on Errors Committed Before Guidance
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Q: The questioner says: He was in a state of ignorance, and Allah granted him the favor of Islam. Before that, he had committed some errors. He says: I heard the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): How do you advise me in this situation?
A: Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) has prescribed repentance for His servants, so He the Exalted said: [Surat al-Nur: 31] And He the Exalted said: [Surat al-Tahrim: 8] And He the Exalted and Majestic said: [Surat Ta-Ha: 82], and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Sunan Ibn Majah 4250Da’if (Darussalam) So whoever commits any of the sins, let him hasten to repentance, regret, ceasing, caution, and the resolve not to return to it, and Allah accepts the repentance of those who repent .
So whenever the servant is sincere in repentance, with regret for what has passed and resolve not to return to it, and he ceases from it out of reverence for Allah and fear of Allah, then He will accept his repentance, and Allah will erase from him what has passed of sins, by His grace and His kindness, (Glorified and Exalted is He).
But if the sin is an injustice to the servants, then that requires performing the right that is upon him, by repenting from what occurred, regretting, ceasing, and resolving not to return to it. And along with that, he must perform the right for its rightful owner or seek his forgiveness, such as saying: "Forgive me, my brother," or "Pardon me," or the like of that, or give him his right, based on the hadith mentioned by the questioner, and other hadiths and verses.
And the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Al-Bukhari narrated it in his Sahih.
So the believer should strive to be free and safe from the right of his brother. Either he performs it for him or he seeks his forgiveness. And if it is regarding his honor, then he must seek his forgiveness if he is able. If he is not able, or he fears the consequences of that and that informing him will lead to greater evil, then he seeks forgiveness for him, prays for him, and mentions the good qualities he knows about him instead of what he mentioned about him in bad terms. That is, he must wash away the first evil with the later good deeds by mentioning the good he knows about him, and spreading his good qualities against the evils he spread previously, and seeking forgiveness for him and praying for him. And by this, the problem is resolved.
Whoever has an injustice against his brother regarding his honor or anything else, let him seek his forgiveness today before there is no dinar or dirham.
من كانت عنده مظلمة لأخيه من عرض أو شيء فليتحلله منه اليوم قبل ألا يكون دينار ولا درهمA: Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) has prescribed repentance for His servants, so He the Exalted said:
And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed.
وَتُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ جَمِيعًا أَيُّهَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَO you who have believed, repent to Allah with sincere repentance.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا تُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ تَوْبَةً نَصُوحًاBut indeed, I am the Perpetual Forgiver of whoever repents and believes and does righteousness and then continues in guidance.
وَإِنِّي لَغَفَّارٌ لِمَنْ تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا ثُمَّ اهْتَدَىThe one who repents from sin is like one who did not sin.
التائب من الذنب كمن لا ذنب لهSo whenever the servant is sincere in repentance, with regret for what has passed and resolve not to return to it, and he ceases from it out of reverence for Allah and fear of Allah, then He will accept his repentance, and Allah will erase from him what has passed of sins, by His grace and His kindness, (Glorified and Exalted is He).
But if the sin is an injustice to the servants, then that requires performing the right that is upon him, by repenting from what occurred, regretting, ceasing, and resolving not to return to it. And along with that, he must perform the right for its rightful owner or seek his forgiveness, such as saying: "Forgive me, my brother," or "Pardon me," or the like of that, or give him his right, based on the hadith mentioned by the questioner, and other hadiths and verses.
And the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Whoever has an injustice against his brother, let him seek his forgiveness today before there is no dinar or dirham. If he has good deeds, they will be taken from his good deeds according to the amount of his injustice. If he has no good deeds, the bad deeds of his brother will be taken and placed upon him.
من كان عنده لأخيه مظلمة فليتحلله اليوم قبل أن لا يكون دينار ولا درهم إن كان له عمل صالح أخذ من حسناته بقدر مظلمته فإن لم يكن له حسنات أخذ من سيئات صاحبه فحمل عليهSo the believer should strive to be free and safe from the right of his brother. Either he performs it for him or he seeks his forgiveness. And if it is regarding his honor, then he must seek his forgiveness if he is able. If he is not able, or he fears the consequences of that and that informing him will lead to greater evil, then he seeks forgiveness for him, prays for him, and mentions the good qualities he knows about him instead of what he mentioned about him in bad terms. That is, he must wash away the first evil with the later good deeds by mentioning the good he knows about him, and spreading his good qualities against the evils he spread previously, and seeking forgiveness for him and praying for him. And by this, the problem is resolved.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.